Jackfruit
is a handsome tree that can grow up to 9-21 m (70 ft) tall, with evergreen,
alternate, glossy and leathery leaves to 22.5 cm (9 in) in length. Jack fruit
is one of the largest edible fruit of the world. The jackfruit (Artocarpus
heterophyllus), an indigenous fruit tree of south India, is popular in the
Southeast Asian region where not only is the fruit consumed but also its seeds.
The tree possesses one of the most popular and most important fruit of India.
The tree came from the Moraceae family.Jack Fruit tree is cultivated widely in
western region of India. In the other places including the warmer provinces of
India, Burma and Sri Lanka, it is cultivated and grows naturally as well.

Jack
Fruit tree has a solid crown of dark green leaves and the fruits and they hang
from the branches, from the trunk and even on the roots of older trees. They
look like massive and unattractive parasites. The rapidly growing tree has
variation in its size depending upon the characteristics of soil. It grows high
and spreads well in the sandy soil. In stony soil, it cannot grow tall and
remain short and thick and in other places where the roots have contact with
the water, the tree remains fruitless. The colour of the bark of the tree is
grey-brown and rough. Moreover, the leaves of the Jackfruit tree grow in close
clusters at the ends of the branchlets alternating each other. They are large,
thick and tough and in rectangular shape. They also have a rounded end and they
point towards the short stalk. Usually, they remain in the whole stalk except
being lobed in very young trees occasionally. In the top of the tree, they are
deep green in colour and silky, but in the lower parts they are pale and
awkwardly hairy.

The
flowers of Jackfruit tree are not that common. In a tree, both female and male
flowers grow separately. The young trees bear only the male flower heads. The
abundant flowers cover a small cylindrical accessory and the whole stays
together with this in two green cases. Male appendages grow at the end of short
leaf and bear branches. They are not noticeable amongst the leaves when in bud.
They are revealed by the falling sheaths as dense, yellow catkins. The female
flowers remains making groups together in large spiny heads straight on the
trunk or limbs. The flowers of the tree normally appear in the months of
February and March.

The
huge fruits of the Jackfruit tree can weight as much as 45 kg in some
occasions. They are normally oblong or round in shape. Several pointed studs
cover their rough skin. They are green in colour when unripe and with the
course of time, they become more yellowish and brown in the final stage. There
are a lot of tiny cavities inside the fruit and each of them contains one seed.
A soft and yellowish pulp surrounds them as well. The young trees bear fruits
only on the branches, but on the older trees one can find them in great
clusters down the trunk. The ancient trees can bear the fruits even in the bare
roots. The people in the eastern region of the country eat these fruits in huge
quantities. People can get good nutrition from the ripe fruits. The unripe
fruits are astringent, but still people cook and eat them as vegetables.
Amongst a number of varieties of Jackfruit, the honey-jack is considered to be
the sweetest and the best. People eat these fruit raw or boiled or fried in
curries and in pickles. They eat it dried like figs as well. The mature seeds
that are surplus can be roasted also.

Theflesh of the jackfruit is starchy and fibrous and is a source of dietary fiber.
The flavor is comparable to a combination of apple, pineapple, mango and
banana. Varieties are distinguished according to characteristics of the fruit's
flesh. In Brazil, three varieties are recognized: jaca-dura, or the
"hard" variety, which has a firm flesh and the largest fruits that
can weigh between 15 and 40 kilograms each, jaca-mole, or the "soft"
variety, which bears smaller fruits with a softer and sweeter flesh, and
jaca-manteiga, or the "butter" variety, which bears sweet fruits
whose flesh has a consistency intermediate between the "hard" and
"soft" varieties.[22] In Indochina, there are 2 varieties, being the
"hard" version (more crunchy, drier and less sweet but fleshier), and
the "soft" version (more soft, moister, much sweeter with a darker
gold-color flesh than the hard variety).

In
Kerala, two varieties of jackfruit predominate: varikka and koozha Varikka has
a slightly hard inner flesh when ripe, while the inner flesh of the ripe koozha
fruit is very soft and almost dissolving. A sweet preparation called chakka
varattiyathu (jackfruit jam) is made by seasoning pieces of varikka fruit flesh
in jaggery, which can be preserved and used for many months. Huge jackfruits up
to four feet in length with a corresponding girth are sometimes seen in Kerala.

In
West Bengal the two varieties are called khaja kathal and moja kathal. The
fruits are either eaten alone or as a side to rice / roti / chira / muri. Sometimes
the juice is extracted and either drunk straight or as a side with muri. The
extract is sometimes condensed into rubbery delectables and eaten as candies.
The seeds are either boiled or roasted and eaten with salt and hot chillies.
They are also used to make spicy side-dishes with rice or roti.

In
Mangalore, Karnataka, the varieties are called bakke and imba. The pulp of the
imba jackfruit is ground and made into a paste, then spread over a mat and
allowed to dry in the sun to create a natural chewy candy.

The
young fruit is called polos in Sri Lanka and idichakka or idianchakka in
Kerala.

In
Indochina, jackfruit is a frequent ingredient in sweets and desserts. In
Vietnam, jackfruit is used to make jackfruit Chè (chè is a sweet dessert soup,
similar to the Chinese derivative, bubur chacha). The Vietnamese also use
jackfruit puree as part of pastry fillings.

The
wood is beautiful, resembling mahogany and changing with age from orange or
yellow to brown or dark-red. It has many qualities: it is termite proof, fairly
resistant to fungal and bacterial decay, which makes it superior to teak (its
strength is 75 to 80% that of teak) for furniture, construction, turnery and
musical instruments. In Bali and Macassar, palaces were built of Jackwood and
the limited supply was once reserved for temples in Indochina. Roots of old
trees are greatly prized for carving and picture framing. In Malabar, dried
branches are used to produce fire in religious ceremonies. A rich yellow dye
used for dyeing silk and the cotton robes of Buddhist priests is made from the
wood chips boiled with alum. The bark is occasionally made into cordage or
cloth.

MEDICINAL
USE:

·The
leaves of jackfruit tree are useful for curing fever, boils and skin diseases.
When heated, they prove useful in curing wounds.

·The
latex of the fruit is helpful in treating dysopia, opthalmities and
pharyngitis.

·The
latex can also be mixed with vinegar to heal abscesses, snakebites and
glandular swellings.

One
hundred Artocarpus heterophyllustrees will be
planted on the Yamuna Banks of Delhi NCR near Shastri Park, Okhla and Sarita
Vihar starting on World Environment Day, 5th June 2014.

If
you want to volunteer time, effort or contribute to this cause as an individual
or corporate please write to us at trees@greening.in or call us at
+918420084225

At Sustainable
Green Initiative, we plant trees to help the fight against climate change
and also hunger, poverty and rural migration. By planting a tree through
us, you help in doing your bit to mitigate your carbon footprint and carry on
the fight against hunger, poverty and climate change.